That being said, our school day today has been a mix of the usual house cleaning and home making along with a few CHEBWA tasks that I have thrown in randomly when I had a free minute. It has gone a little something like this: coffee, email, CHEBWA Teens fb page invites, breakfast, dinner in the crock pot, laundry, start bread making for a marathon bread day, Bible, History, bread, laundry, design CHEBWA business cards, bread, Math 4, print business cards, bread, help Josh with Language Arts, laundry, add veggies to the crock pot, lunch, bread, find the CHEBWA cards covered with jelly, wait. . . seriously? Oh, yes. Seriously. One of my dear children, and I think I know which one, decided to eat lunch while examining my handiwork. I had shown the kids the cards after I printed them, but this child wanted a closer look, a much closer look.
Child raising on its own requires patience, homeschooling just kicks it up a notch. Since I have been living in this heightened state of character purification for a while now, my Jelly Bandit didn't receive the wrath of a frazzled and furious mom. God silenced me after my initial shock and I realized that my work was being admired and not maliciously attacked. When I am honest about how that patience was developed in me, it is clearly a Gift from God. He has managed to use trials and difficult situations to refine my character, and the majority of those difficulties are related to my choice to keep my kids at home and direct their education. Homeschooling is not easy.
Even though this was a "little" moment in our day, it was a moment where I was able to catch a glimpse of how homeschooling has, and is, changing us. Yes, it is is difficult, but that's why I love it. With kids constantly underfoot, the never ending demands of house keeping, lessons to correct, and character to refine, it is the perfect "laboratory" for developing strong character. If we are willing to be teachable, even as we teach, we will find ourselves becoming more faithful servants of the God who is molding us in His image. It teaches us to serve each other as Jesus did and that gift is worth pursuing at all cost.
Homeschooling has been a blessing in our home for the last ten years and I'm looking forward to sharing the journey of home education with all of you!
To God be the Glory,
-Jessie Wiegand
P.S. If anything in this post gave you the impression that I have it all together: while writing this, I received a phone call from my 12 year old son informing me that I forgot to pick him up from Boy Scouts. Oh, yes. Seriously.